I do not recommend they be told to hit down or up on the ball as the swing changes that result make things way more complicated. If the ball is too far forward in your stance, its easy to hit it fat. Apr 29, 2011 i just got back from the driving range. There should be no ground contact, try to leave the tee in the ground and see how low you can hit these little 7 iron shots. He was teeing it up high so i told him to hover the clubhead behind the ball. You tear up a huge chunk of sod, you risk busting your wrists, and the ball goes nowhere. Sep 01, 2014 of all the mishits in golf, hitting it fat hitting the ground before the ball is the worst. The problem is still the samethe swing bottoms out before the ball so the clubhead. So if the driver hits any amount behind the golf ball, an inch, two. Trying to get a little more power often causes your back shoulder to dip, which can cause you to hit the ground first. Why jack and i hover the club early in my golf life i adopted jack nicklauss technique of addressing the ball with the clubhead held just above the turf rather than resting on it. You must hit the golf ball first with a shallow, descending blow to avoid hitting behind the golf ball.
But it still happens with irons and fairway woods when the ball is on the ground. Stop hitting the ground behind the golf ball youtube. Dec 06, 2017 golf is a hard game, and things are going to go wrong on occasion. The clubhead reaches the bottom of its swing arc before it gets to the ball. This is in contrast to a better shot that sees the clubhead making contact with the ball before it proceeds to penetrating the ground, as should happen in shots made with irons and wedges. Sliding the hips sliding the hips forward before or at impact causes the body to shift. Michael breed explains how to hit golf ball golf channel. So to counteract this, sometimes i would tee it up extremely high to make me want to have a clean hit. Instead, you know immediately as soon as the club digs into the turf, that the shot will be a failure. Some golfers like to ground their club behind the ball before they swing. For one, much of the power and momentum in the swing is lost before even hitting the ball. Stop hitting the ground behind the golf ball in this video rick gives some simple advice to eliminate what can be the most annoying shot in golf become a free subscriber to rick shiels now.
Its a simple training aid thats the similar to a golf ball, but flat. The proper tee height should be different depending on the type of shots you prefer to hit. You may even lose your footing with your right foot, which is another way to hit a drive fat. Now that you have had enough answers to really confuse you, may i suggest a drill for you. To get a good launch, minimize spin, and maximize distance, you have to hit up on the golf ball. Note that without seeing your swing its difficult for me to say what is causing you personally to hit behind the ball. Too often the club will contact the ground before it contacts the golf ball compromising shot distance and flight control. You should set up to the golf ball with your arms fully extended so that when they make the natural. Hitting down on the golf ball with irons thoughtco. Home golf instruction diagnosing problems diagnosing problem tips. Next, youll see a drill with a flat ball to stop hitting the ground before the ball. If he has a lower ss and has a low lofted driver this will happen. Michael breed, host of the golf fix, explains how to hit the ball with the center of the club face in this exclusive tip.
When swinging with an iron, you want to catch the golf ball on a descending motion. Why jack and i hover the club greg normans golf tips. Mar 03, 20 golf lessons with derek hooper many players have trouble making solid contact with their fairway shots. Is it easy to break a golf club by hitting the ground before the ball. The carry time it is in the air is less but the distance is longer than if you pitched properly. As well as being called a fat shot, you will also hear it called a duffed shot, or a sclaffed shot. Compress the golf ball february 08, 20 andrew rice. There are many methods for tee height for a driver shot. Should my golf club be touching the ground, at the start. But there is something different about hitting behind the ball. Mark talks striking the golf ball and how to improve your golf strikes. How to stop hitting the ground before hitting the golf ball. Nobody wants to hit it and it kinda makes you look.
How to deal with the heel april 23, 2015 martin hall talks about sweet spot confusion and what you can do to stop hitting shots off the heel of the club face. May 28, 2017 hitting down with a driver is easier to control and therefore straighter. Every time i use my driver i hit the ground before i hit. Personal preference can come into play here, but the determining factor should be how consistently you hit the ball. Nov 01, 2008 using a normal golf swing you should not be afraid of breaking a driver when hitting the ground. The club head impacts the ground before the ball resulting in a poor shot covering hardly any of the intended distance. A fat shot occurs when you hit behind the golf ball. Before we start with the steps of how to hit a golf ball, lets go over some of the basic golf lingo.
Chris ryan shows you how you can use a feeling or a thought to improve the strike with your irons clubs. Good golfers trust their swings and their equipment to get the ball airborne successfully. There are some tour pros who hover the driver head behind the ball at address. Stop hitting the ground behind the golf ball duration. Delofting the face without slamming the club into the ground. We have the golf swing and your total game broken down to the 5 most. Irons are designed to contact the golf ball while still traveling down. This alone will really help your avoid hitting behind the ball. The goal is to feel the clubhead working down and hitting the ground where the ball would be. Our goal is to get enough spin to achieve lift, while minimizing hopefully eliminating drag. If you hit on top of the flat ball, itll bounce up and if you hit too far behind it, your club will likely bounce right over it. So, all that power that youve built into the club head just gets wasted by a very inefficient contact where you hit the ground a couple of inches before the golf ball, you get grass and turf stuck on the club face, the club slows down, sometimes even twists and the ball doesnt go anywhere. I usually shy away from talk about how to hit the golf ball farther because i do not believe that this is the ultimate key to lowering scores for most average players. Tips and drills to hit it with a descending blow golf.
Standing on one foot causes you to hit down on the ball, which helps you to hit the ball first. How to stop hitting golf shots off the heel golf channel. Jan 30, 2020 the key to hitting the ball farther with the modern, 460cc driver and modern golf ball which spins much less off of a flat face than balls of the past is high launch angle combined with a low spin rate. Here is the practical golf way to hit the ball farther. You shouldnt be hitting the ball at the bottom, or apex, of the golf swing like with a fairway wood. With a lot of modern drivers having large heads, the need to make taller tees arose, resulting in tees of varying lengths. We call hitting the ground before the ball dropkicking and it can happen with. Playing the ball too far back in your stance can cause you to hit the ground behind the ball and keep you from getting the accuracy and distance on the shot that you want. Mar 22, 2016 you place the ball on the tee, eye the fairway, and address the ball. Address the ball and focus on hitting the marking of the ball. If your club is hitting the ground before the ball, you may very well be too close to the ball. Its hitting the ground before you hit the golf ball. This is in contrast to a better shot that sees the clubhead making contact with the ball before it proceeds to penetrating the ground, as should happen in. The correct height should be different from person to person.
Think of a baseball pitcher winding up with his pitching arm and while its still moving back hes already stepping towards the plate. The driver should not hit the ground if this is the only problem, you should just miss or top the ball, but in conjunction with a lowering of height or breakdown of the wrists, this could be a factor. You hit the ball first and then take a shallow divot. When you try to hit the ball too hard, you are likely to dip down and catch the turf before the ball. May 22, 2009 when hitting off the tee, you should be contacting the ball on the upswing of your swing arc. If you adjust your swing so you dont hit the ground, the clubhead will be swinging upward by the time it reaches the ball. Fix your golf swing to stop hitting behind the ball golficity. In the driver, the swing bottoms out just before the ball. How i hit drives 56 yards farther with one adjustment. Also, the grass and dirt which finds its way between the club head and the ball will severly impact your ability to control it. Every time i use my driver i hit the ground before i hit the ball, why is this. Jul 10, 2018 all these catchphrases relate to something about the design of golf irons and the proper way to use them to hit a golf ball.
You will take your shallow divot from the grass ahead of your ball, not behind the ball. So the heavy shot that shot where we hit the ground before hitting the golf ball. The first reason is that many players use the ground to support the club, consciously or not, which creates inconsistency in their grip p. Hit down on the ball seems contrary to our instincts golf is a difficult game, yet to so many of the uninitiated it might seem incredibly simple, says golf instructor clive scarff. Stop hitting the ball fat with this golf drill video lesson by pga pro pete styles now, one of the most frustrating shots out in the golf course is the fat shot. Golf digest may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our. Tee shots are usually not a problem because the ball is elevated, but hitting from the fairway is often a completely different story. The problem for many golfers is that they dont realize when they hit it a little fat. These tour players all hover the club when the ball is.
I think there are 5 types of players who will do well with this set up. Some of the rental clubs are pretty cheap and could possibly break if improperly hitting the ground during a swing. Hit it on the faces center september 09, 20 michael breed, host of the golf fix, explains how to hit the ball with the center of the club face in this exclusive tip. After you get the feel for leading with the hands and hitting the ground, add a golf ball and hit some shots. For those looking to stop chunking, this video on, golf lessons stop hitting the ground before the ball, is for you. Compress the golf ball golf instruction andrew rice golf. One easy drill to perfect your ball striking plugged in golf. Stance the position of your feet and legs as you prepare to hit the ball. And by saying that, i mean hitting the ground before the ball, which causes a number of problems. Stop hitting the ball fat with this golf drill video lesson. Is it easy to break a golf club by hitting the ground. Fix your golf swing to stop hitting behind the ball. If your timing is anything but perfect, you will hit the ground before you hit the ball, causing you to hit the ball fat and slowing down your clubhead at impact.
Hitting the ground before the ball can have many causes. Golf lessons stop hitting the ground before the ball how. If you dont hit down through the shot with the belief that the loft of the club will help it into the air, you will always be prone to hitting ground balls. So, in that case, the bottom of you swing arc is behind the ball as it should be. This mistake means that the club loses almost all of its speed before hitting the shot, and the ball usually wont travel very far. Stop hitting the ball fat with this simple golf drill. I know the golfer who told me he never felt he hit the ball on the sweet spot on his driver.
Youre standing on the tee, driver in hand, ready to grip it and rip it. Is it easy to break a golf club by hitting the ground before. The ball should be struck past this point, on the upswing. Place a tee flush into the ground 12 inches behind the ball and ask the golfer to brush the ground there no divot. This will lead to a higher launch angle and lower spin rate, which is how we are going to hit the ball farther than we ever have before. Golf lessons stop hitting the ground before the ball. When you take a shot, the golf ball should be teed up high enough that the top of the driver clubface dissects the equator of the golf ball. You end up hitting at 50 yards in front of you instead of hitting the green and the main reason for him behind the golf ball is weight. Eliminate toe hits with this drill the golftec scramble. If you adjust your swing so you dont hit the ground, the clubhead will be swinging upward by the time it reaches the.
I have hit the ground prior to hitting the ball many times without damaging the club. I do want to give the readers what they want though. But i dont think there is one correct tee height for everyone. If youre like many amateur golfers, perhaps dozens of swing thoughts are running through your head. If you hit a ball with such an low launch, it will hit the ground a lot earlier and run like a scalded rabbit. With recent advancements in golf technology, we now have the ability to track this information. Hi, i would say that 20% of my drives end up short because i hit the ground first.
Before your club reaches the top of the backswing use your lower body legs and hips to start driving your weight towards the target. Hit down on the ball means your iron should contact the ball before it hits the ground. When this happens, you dont even get to watch the ball fly while hoping for a good result. A golf shot is considered fat when you hit the ground prior to hitting the ball.
Why do you hit the ground before the golf ball youtube. It is a frustrating mishit that results in added strokes to the scorecard. As a general rule, the ball should be played in the middle of the stance and slightly back with shorter clubs. I have found that a spin loft of 11 is very good for a driver. Then add a ball and start with half swings, before moving to full swings once you can maintain this move with consistency. Sliding the hips forward before or at impact causes the body to shift forward, causing the club to drop behind the ball. Examining the benefits and differences between grounding your club or hovering it behind the golf ball. That same swing in the fairway would be a fat shot, as the bottom of your swing would be behind the ball. If you dont have enough power ss then the club will go right. We call hitting the ground before the ball dropkicking and it. Dec 31, 2014 and by saying that, i mean hitting the ground before the ball, which causes a number of problems. The fat shot by definition is hitting the ground before the golf ball.
Amateur golfers tend to uncock the left wrist too fast which means they hit the ground before the ball and as a result the elbows pull apart the chicken wing followthrough in order to allow. When that happens, you have no chance of hitting the bottom half of the ball. If you set the clubhead on the ground at address, you will hit it on the heel of your clubhead. I believe the first part of hitting your driver better is to understand where on the clubface you. Too often the club will contact the ground before it contacts the golf ball compromising. Stop hitting the ball fat with this golf drill video. What you may find is that by focusing there as opposed to the middle or the back of the ball will make your impact with the ground further ahead, yielding that crisp nonchunked strike. Hitting behind the golf ball, or hitting it fat, is a common problem, especially with high handicappers. To give yourself the best possible chance at a clean and solid hit with the driver, take it easy and let your distance happen naturally. When i was hitting with the driver, i think i was hitting at the ball too steeply, so my club would often hit the ground before making contact with the ball, so i popped the ball up and couldnt hit it far. Practice hitting the ball first by standing on your front foot and hitting golf balls at the range. Golf lessons stop hitting the ground before the ball youtube.
In golf a fat shot or a golf shot hit fat is one that sees the club penetrating the ground before making contact with the ball. You place the head of your driver gently on the ground behind the ball. Oct 19, 2019 with a lot of modern drivers having large heads, the need to make taller tees arose, resulting in tees of varying lengths. The golf club should work down, hit the ball, and then the ground. Try to avoid having your club on the ground at the start of your swing. Players who want to swing on a flatter swing plane 4. To hit it with a descending blow, you need to hit the ball before the clubhead reaches its lowest point of the swing arc. Every time i use my driver i hit the ground before i hit the. One of the problems that many golfers have is the tendency to hit the ground before hitting the ball. Even highlevel professional golfers hit some ugly shots from time to time. Of all the mishits in golf, hitting it fat hitting the ground before the ball is the worst. Most amateurs hang back because the equipment is to strong for them, so they try to add loft and control the ball this way. The dreaded fat shots with a golf driver video by pete styles. The cause often is that the swing is out of sequence.
I was using a 1 wood and after the second swing, the club head broke off and went about 40 yards. To avoid hitting the ground before hitting a teed up golf ball, use a. How can i stop my driver from hitting the ground before the. I am just starting to golf and was at the driving range today hitting with borrowed clubs. You dont want to hit down on the ball with a steep angle of approach into the ball. Hitting down causes more spin and therefore more control. Why do you hit the ground before the golf ball with askgolfguru mark crossfield pga professional. With your driver, you need to do the exact opposite. How can i stop my driver from hitting the ground before.